Influencer marketing and conversion marketing are some of the most effective forms of digital marketing today, and the trend is likely to continue for years to come. There are more than 3.78 billion social media users so it is not a surprise that brands want to harness the power of influencer marketing to increase their exposure.
If you partner up with the right influencers, you can expect it to have major benefits for your brand as a whole. Of course, the key question is how to find the right influencers for your business? This blog will give you 3 proven methods to find influencers in any niche. This will significantly reduce the time you spend searching and ensure that influencers you contact are likely to compliment your brand perfectly.
The problem you face once you start searching for influencers is the number of results you will get. When using Instagram influencer search tools, you will quickly notice thousands, if not millions, of potential influencers you could work with. Even smaller niches have influencers with tens of thousands of followers. And in more popular industries such as fitness, it's not unusual to find influencers with millions of TikTok and/or Instagram followers. So, the central problem is not discovering influencers ‐ it's finding the right fit for your brand. Let's dig into our three methods that will help you find the right partners in your niche.
It's a no-brainer that working with Instagram influencers is the right solution for most brands. If you are looking to start with influencer marketing, Instagram would be a sensible choice. But, Instagram is not the be-all-end-all of influencer marketing ‐ we still have bloggers, YouTubers, thought leaders, big names on Twitter, TikTokers, Twitch streamers, podcasters, Facebook group admins, even active Redditors. The answer to the question of which influencer platform is the right one for you is simple. It's the one your audience spends time on already.
If you own a local gaming gear shop, it will make a lot of sense to work with a local Twitch streamer. On the other hand, if you sell yoga mats, it would make more sense to partner with someone who has a YouTube yoga channel. Because you are partnering with a person, not their channel, it is a good idea to find someone who has a presence on several platforms. In our yoga example ‐ the same person probably has a YouTube yoga channel, as well as an Instagram page. That will make it easy for you to spread your brand to new platforms, not just the main one you are focusing on. Generally speaking, you can expect almost all influencers to have an Instagram profile, while their presence on other platforms will depend on the niche.
Although it is much easier to pay someone to promote your products (if you have the money!), just focusing on paying for exposure is not the best approach. It's likely that the type of influencer who will promote anything is probably doing exactly that ‐ promoting everything and everyone. If someone is promoting a new brand every other day, telling people how it's their favorite one, their word quickly loses any real value. It is a much better idea to partner with someone who shares the same core values as you. That type of partnership will benefit both parties and won't damage the credibility of either side.
Influencers with strong opinions about their values will usually have gained traction outside Instagram. They might have a big Instagram following, but using images might not be their preferred way to communicate their message. You are more likely to find these influencers running famous blogs or having an active YouTube channel, Twitter account, or podcast. Broaden your searches outside Instagram, and when you find the right partner, go back to the platform and DM them for a collab.
The easiest way to find influencers that share the same values as your brand and are on the platforms where your audience spends time already is to keep an eye on your competition. Check all of the other brands you are competing with, and see what they are doing. Check their sites and social media channels, try hashtags they use. Search for them on Google and in the news. You will find influencers they partnered with and see the type of campaigns they are running. Social media management can help you stay competitive by providing the tools to generate new leads and maintain existing ones.
While the most obvious thing to do is to reach out to the same influencer and ask for a collab, that's usually not the best idea. First, there might be a conflict of interest. But even if they say yes, you will be playing catch-up with your competition, and followers will notice you reached out to the same person. Plus, it is likely that some of the followers will have already decided to go with your competitors ‐ if that's the case, they won't switch to you, as it's too early for that.
It's a much better idea to keep an eye on your competitors to get ideas. You want to understand why they selected those influencers and how they found out about them. Then, you want to research the background of those influencers and see their past activities. That might give you an insight into the companies they work with or some other influencers they mention. All of this will provide valuable ideas and broaden your horizons, helping you find the right partners in less time. And if you think that keeping an eye on your competitors is not a nice thing to do, don't worry ‐ they will be keeping an eye on you as well!
While you might be tempted to find as many influencers with a decent following as possible, going just for the number of followers is not a good idea. It is a much better approach to reach out to fewer influencers you know are a perfect match for your brand and core values and aim to work with them long-term. Of course, building the online presence of your brand doesn't happen overnight. Any good marketing strategy requires detailed planning and careful execution, and influencer marketing is no different. If you implement the three methods we have mentioned in this blog and find credible partners, your influencer marketing efforts will likely prove very effective in the long run.
by Andrii | 27 Sep 23